


Billy and Todd's Not-So-Secret Wedding

by auselysium



Category: Coronation Street
Genre: Double Drabble, Fluff, Future Angst, M/M, Secret Wedding, maybe? - Freeform, this is some fluffy fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-10-13 09:27:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10510968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auselysium/pseuds/auselysium
Summary: Todd wants to get married and Billy thinks a secret wedding sounds fab.  Of course, nothing stays a secret in Weatherfield forever.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Each section is exactly 200 words.

It reads like one of those click-bait, “You won’t believe what happened next” stories, only this post was real.

An account of systemic bigotry, shared by the middle-aged secretary from Todd’s old law firm in London - originally posted by a friend of a friend of a friend. They’d stayed linked through facebook after all these years, lord knows why.

It was the story of partners - boyfriends - together for nearly two decades, only to be kept apart by outdated, homophobic laws at the most horrible of moments. “Even though I was listed as his emergency contact, I wasn’t allowed into the hospital room after the crash,” the man recounted. “I wasn’t allowed to make decisions about his care, those choices instead left to his homophobic parents. I wasn’t allowed to be with him when he died. All because we’d decided that marriage wasn’t for us.”

There are hundreds of shares. Countless comments of sympathy and support, expressing anger on behalf of the grieving man and prayers for his lost partner.

And it’s right then and there, sat on his mother’s couch, phone still in his hand and tears in his eyes, that Todd decides he and Billy need to get married.

*

Of course, a wedding proposal to William P. Mayhew, Vicar at Saint Mary’s Parish, is not as simple as picking the perfect ring and planning a romantic way to ask.

There are ecumenical pressures. The judgement of the CoE and the simple fact that they hadn’t even been together a year.

And her certainly didn’t want Billy finding out that his sudden urge to settle down had all be prompted by some Facebook sob story.

But later that evening as Todd finishes the dishes, Billy brings the last of his plates, dropping them into the soapy water. He runs his palms across Todd’s shoulder blades, his body pressing in close, his chin falling to the crook of Todd’s neck, and Todd remembers that this, this complete love, is why he really wants to be with Billy for the rest of his life.

“You alright?” Billy murmurs. His hands find his hips, their gentle pressure swaying their bodies together. “You’ve been....preoccupied.”

Todd gives a rash nodd, a muttered “I’m fine,”. Billy sees right through the deflection.

“What, Todd?”

He drops the dirty pot in his hand and the act. Steps back to look at Billy.

“I want to get married.”

*

“Ok,” Billy says after a moment and a cautious laugh. Todd feels defensive in the wake of his bold statement and Billy leans back, assuming a similarly standoffish pose. “What’s brought this on?”

Todd shrugs. “It’s something that I want, something I’ve always envisioned for myself.” Billy nods, hearing him out. “And it’s something that we deserve.”

At that, Billy’s body melts with regret, with all he cannot give. He reaches for Todd’s waist again, pulling him close. “Sweetheart,” he sighs.

“Look, tell me if we’re not both on the same page here, but this - you and me - this is it.”

Billy’s lips curl sweetly. “Same page. Definitely.”

“So imagine, down the line, when I’m not allowed to be there for you or have to fight for the life we’ll build because I’m just your boyfriend, not your husband.”

The practical angle takes Billy by surprise. “But there are ways around that, Powers of Attorney and wills…”

“It’s not the same, though is it?” Todd insists. “Not here.”

His finger comes to rest over Billy’s heart.

“If I could…”

“But you can’t.” Billy shakes his head, truly pained. “Well not publicly,” Todd continues, nonplussed. “Could always keep it a secret.”

*

“A secret wedding? Seriously?” Billy asks with a playful twist to his voice. “How’d that work?”

Todd returns to his dishes, attacking them with renewed vigor. “We have a wedding but we just don’t tell anyone.” The pan clatters louder than necessary against the sink. “It’s really not that complicated, Billy.”

“And you’d want that? A lie for a lifetime? No one else ever knowing?”

“But we’d know. And at the end of the day, that’s all that matters. Us. Our names signed on the dotted line.”

Todd pushes a cleaned plate into Billy’s chest, along with a tea towel. “Dry.”

Their conversation continues later that night as Billy crawls onto the duvet next to him. His loose pajama bottoms fall across the angle of his narrow hips; his skin smells of church candles and nighttime. Todd keeps his eyes stubbornly fixed to the pages of his book.

“So, all this wedding business? Was this just talk for the future or an actual proposal?”

That makes Todd snap his book shut. He looks at Billy’s face, all those beautiful curves and lines he loves so well.

“Guess that depends on your answer.”

Billy smiles. “Only one way to find out.”


	2. Chapter 2

And that is how Todd and Billy become engaged.

Since a secret wedding requires secret planning, their classified knowledge changes them. Todd’s never felt closer to Billy. The smiles they share upon departing each day are dopy and knowing. They hold each other tighter at night, breathing endearments like “My beautiful finance,” against the other’s skin.

“We can’t get married here,” Billy says over a rare solitary breakfast.

“Obviously.”

“A destination secret wedding then? Perfect; I’m due a holiday anyway.”

“Do people still run off to Gretna Green?” Todd ponders, stirring his tea. “That used to be a thing.”

“Did it?” Billy says, with a horrified grimace.

For a man who loves the idea of marriage and performs them regularly, designing their private, civil affair must feel very different. There will be no covenant with God for them, no consecrated blessing. Yet his smiles are always giddy as they plan, radiating his love for Todd.

_Gibraltar_

Todd texts him minutes before an evening prayer service some weeks later.

 _???_ He writes back.

_24 hours waiting period._

_Still need a witness._

_Already on it._

Billy presses his phone between his palms, wonderstruck that it’s real, before slipping it back beneath his robes.

*

Three weeks later, Todd and Billy wait in the open air terminal for the last flight of day. The Mediterranean sun sets warm behind the Rock of Gibraltar as Jason makes his way down the airplane stairs.

“Hiya, bro.”

He looks good. Hair trimmed and skin tropical tan. Billy smiles as the brothers share a full armed embrace after nearly a year.

Jason takes his shades off, looking at the setting around him. “Not that I’m complaining but this better be good.”

“Pulled you away from your beach house in Goa, did we?”

“Pulled him away from his exotic lover, more like,” Todd teases.

“Yeah, alright Todd,” Jason snaps. “Her name's Cassie and she’s from LA.” The brothers share a teasing smirk. “But seriously, what’s with the secrecy?”

“Interesting choice of words,” Todd says. He steps towards Billy who puts his arm around his shoulders. Todd’s hand lands comfortably across Billy’s abdomen. “We’re getting married.”

A slow, stunned smile works its way across Jason’s face. “This is smashing news, lads!” he cheers with an affectionate smack to Todd’s arm. “But couldn’t you have told me this over the phone?”

“No, we’re getting married here,” Billy clarifies. “We’re getting married tomorrow.”

*  
“You’re eloping?”

“Got it in one,” Todd says. “No one knows we’re here.”

“Eileen thinks we’ve gone to Ibiza for a week.”

“We flew there then drove here. We’ll go back after the wedding, keep up the ruse.”

“Then what have I got to do with it?”

Other passengers walk past, paying their intimate conversation no mind.

“We need a witness and who better than the member of my family who lives halfway across the world.”

“Because it’s not just the wedding that’s a secret...”

“It’s the marriage, too init?” Jason finishes. “It would have to be, with your position.” He gives Billy a slow perusal, both pitying and protective. He turns to his brother. “You alright with this, are you?”

“It was my idea. And so was inviting you. After all, I need my brother here on the most important day of my life.”

Billy touches the small of his back gently, a gesture that doesn’t go unnoticed by Jason. Billy had still been with Sean when he’d left Weatherfield but seeing the pair of them...it makes sense.

“Well then, boys, best get your stag do started then!” He says, pulling both of them into a massive hug.

*  
“A toast!”

The bar is as boisterous as their mood. The view as picture perfect as their day.

Todd will never forget how Billy had looked, their hands joined, his shirt collar wide against his linel lapel. He’ll remember the taste of Billy’s tears on smiling lips as they were pronounced, husbands.

Jason took his role as best man (times two), wedding guest and party planner with complete gusto. A debt Todd will never know how to repay.

Jason lifts a shot glass, not the first of the evening, high. “To Monsieurs Grimshaw-Mayhew.” He slurs over the French. “Or will it be Mayhew-Grimshaw?”

“I can’t think why, but I think we’ll stick with our given names,” Todd says.

Jason snaps his fingers. “Right. Dead give away.”

Todd mouths a derisive “Yeah,” and downs his shot.

“No rings, no name change. You need something to make it official.”

“We’ve got a marriage license. That’s official enough.”

“I did have a thought about that,” Billy pipes in. “Though I think Todd will need a few more more drinks before he agrees.”

Jason’s eyes go wide. “Oh, I like the sound of that,” he beams and signals to the bartender for another round.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special nod to Sam for the Gretna Green line. xo


	3. Chapter 3

“I need a picture.”

“No,” Todd snaps, his head flying off the leather chair. Jason moans in dismay and Billy chuckles, looking totally relaxed in the matching chair beside him. “No photographic evidence. This sadistic, heinous form of body mutilation will be...”

“Heinous?” Billy grins. “You’ve never talked about my tattoo as something heinous. Quite the opposite, in fact.” Billy’s tone turns flirtatious and Todd rolls his eyes.

He’s not sure the extra drinks helped. Maybe they got him to agree to commemorate their day with a pair of tattoos but not with the impending nerves.

Todd chose a simple design, free from all cliches: his and Billy’s initials along with the date in a circle, akin to their absent rings, just below his left collarbone. The placement over his heart is his one concession to sentimentality.

Billy decided to tuck their initials, date and a Bible verse number (one he promised wasn’t too Jesus-y) into the curves and corners of his already existing tattoo.

As the two artists return, carrying trays of ink and needles, Billy reaches for Todd as if to ask, _Ready_?

Jason presses his fist to his lips, overwhelmed by the clarity in Todd’s answering gaze.

*

Later, they stumble into their hotel room. Jason’s teasing “Have a good night’s _sleep_ , boys!” follows at their backs.

The bed does look awfully inviting though and they fall on it, in tandem, breath expelling from their lungs as laughter.

But soon enough, the heat draws them together. Billy splays his hand across Todd’s jaw as muscles work beneath skin, opening his mouth for Billy’s needy tongue.

His hands float lower, wary to avoid the tender-warm skin over Todd’s fresh ink.

“Hasn’t been the most conventional wedding night, has it?” Billy says, sitting back to undo Todd’s shirt.

“Looks pretty fucking perfect from this angle. Come here, husband.” Todd threads his hand around Billy’s neck, pulling him in for another kiss.

“Say that again,” Billy orders lowly, sending a tremble down Todd’s spine.

“Husband.” Todd’s hands are slow, working under Billy’s pants. “My husband.”

“I love the sound of that.”

“Well, best get your fill of me saying it tonight. Speak now, or forever hold your peace, right?”

“Speaking.” Billy removes his belt with a snap. “Moaning.” He licks his tongue into Todd’s mouth. “ _Screaming_ ,” he hisses, hips undulating with delicious intention.

Todd moans and the night unfolds between them.

*

It feels different back in Weatherfield. Different, and yet completely the same.

Billy goes to church and preaches the good word. Marries people and buries people. Welcomes babies to the fold. Todd flits in and out of jobs. Dreams of something bigger, each hairbrained idea supported wholeheartedly by his spouse, even when it doesn’t happen.

This secret lives between them; hidden like a superpower. A bomb, ready to be dropped the moment anyone dares make them feel _less than_ or denies them a basic right.

Todd falls asleep tracing his initials in Billy’s skin with his finger tips. Billy makes love to him, breathing his orgasmic moans to the scripted circle over Todd’s heart.

They _know_. And they lavish in it.

What they don’t notice is the way Eileen watches them. Watching with the approval of a mother, seeing her son happier than he’s ever been. But also watching with the knowing eyes of Todd Grimshaw’s mum, skeptical and wary.

She watches them say goodbye one morning, Todd’s hazel eyes burnished in the rising light, their gaze swimming with something so much _more than_.

She steps into to the foyer, arms crossed. “Alright. No lies. What’s up with you two?”


	4. Chapter 4

  
“I have no idea what you’re on about,” Todd says, brushing past her, as his heart begins to pulse nervously against the back of his ribs. He sits at the breakfast table, filling his mouth with toast and tea in quick succession.

Eileen sits opposite. “I know you, Todd and you’ve been different since you came back from Ibiza.”

“We had a good holiday, so what?” Todd says, with a defensive shrug, dipping his knife into the jam.

“That trip was nearly a month ago. The honeymoon should be long over.”

Todd nearly chokes, the toast turned to dry crumbs in his mouth.

“The what?” He swallows.

“Oh, you know what I mean. You’ve been sharing this place with me and Pat for nearly a year and you are walking around like a pair of newlyweds.”

_Bulls eye._

Todd making a hasty escape to the kitchen, clearing his dishes. He watches his fingers tremble against the cutlery.

“I can’t help but think you’re keeping something from me.”

“We’re happy, alright?” He says, planting his best non-plussed expression on his face as well as a peck to Eileen's cheek. “I’m happy. The rest, dear mother, is all in your head.”

*

“She knows.”

Todd never visits him at work. In fact, Billy thinks that the last time Todd was in his office - up the narrow staircase from the sanctuary - was the day of Callum’s funeral, when so much certainty in Billy’s life had come into question all because of Todd.

Now Todd is the most certain thing of all.

“She bloody knows.” Todd comes to a standstill, fingers pressed to his brow.

“Calm down.” Billy’s hands are steady on Todd’s biceps. “How?”

“She’s my mum, Billy...she just does. I mean, not that we’re…You know.” He gestures between them. “But she knows something is up. Said we’d been walking around like a pair of newlyweds, we’ve been so happy.”

Billy sits back against his desk, crossing arms and ankles.

“Well, that didn’t take long, did it? You want to tell her?”

He takes a moment to reconcile the prick of jealousy at Todd having a parent who knows him so well, they can read changes in demeanour like words on a page; the simple fact that he has family left to tell.

But the eager light in Todd’s eyes is enough for him to know it’s the right thing to do.

*  
They make their way into the sitting room later that night, settling on the edge of the couch.

Todd clears his throat. “Can we talk?”

Eileen gives them a bewildered perusal before turning off the telly.

“This’ll be be good, won’t it?” She sighs, settling herself on the couch and tightening her cardigan around her.

“You were right. We have been keeping something from you since Ibiza. Something...happened while we were there.” Billy’s hand falls to Todd’s shoulder. He covers that hand with his, unified. “We got married.”

Todd’s statement takes a moment to processes.

“Got married?” She finally says. “As in, already happened?”

Todd wets his lips and nods. “We went to Gibraltar. Licenses are valid 24 hours after you get them there, so we just had a quick thing in a garden. But Jason was there. He was our witness.”

Eileen’s brow lifts gently with continued surprise.

“It was beautiful, actually,” Billy adds. “Perfect.”

Eileen’s face goes terribly still as Todd turns his face towards Billy’s, aglow like he’s just stepped into a pool of sunlight. It’s a stunning and affirming exchange, a bond that has been desperately lacking in Todd’s life.

“Don’t be mad, mum. Please.”

*

Eileen sits in stunned silence, her expression blank, her limbs cool as Todd goes on about how they needed to keep it secret for the sake of Billy’s career. It’s all rational and reasonable but does nothing to stop how she feels.

“Well,” Todd says, looking for acceptance. “Say something.”

“You should be relieved. I’m not mad.” Eileen stands, smoothing the front of her shirt with tempered hands. “Anger is most definitely not the emotion I’m feeling right now.”

She’s able to close the sitting room door behind her before the tears catch up with her.

The quiet of bedtime is around her as she stands outside Todd and Billy’s room. It seems more officially theirs now that she knows they are married. She lifts her hands, pauses then knocks gently.

Todd answers, leaving the door slightly ajar behind him. He crosses his arms across the thin fabric of his undershirt.

“Did I wake you?”

“No, we were just going to watch something on Billy’s laptop.”

“I’m not mad that you kept this from me. I’m not upset that you brought my other son back from halfway round the world and I didn’t get to see him. I’m just sad.”

*

Todd takes a trembling breath. He’s used to a fuming Eileen, but this pained, delicate version is much harder for him to bear.

“Do want to know why I’m sad?” Todd shrugs, half-heartedly. “It’s because I didn’t get to see my boy - my beautiful son who denied himself and fought against coming out for so long, who’s had his heart beaten up by past lovers and life. I didn’t see that boy stand next to the _man_ he wants to spend the rest of his life with and proclaim that love publicly. I missed my chance to be proud of you, to share your happiness.”

Todd feels every year of her love as he steps into her arms. “I’m so sorry, mum, but you can be happy for us now.”

“I am. I’m over the moon.” She whispers, kissing his teary cheek.

“You really mean that?”

They think of his engagement to Sarah. His deception of Jules and Marcus. Todd and Billy’s clandestine start.

“Of course, love.”

Then Billy is there, a placid look on his face. “We have pictures,” he says. “Not many, but...your son looked desperately handsome.”

She cups Billy’s face, now her family too. “Sounds perfect.”


	5. Chapter 5

  
Sarah marries Gary on a beautiful September Saturday, a ring of flowers in hair, looking every bit like the young girl Todd had loved a different lifetime ago.

Billy sits next to him during the ceremony, holding his hand with a knowing tightness.

“Could have been you...” He says, idly as they watch the couple’s first dance.

Todd scoffs. “Can you imagine?”

Billy leans in, his fingers resting coming to rest over that spot. “I would have saved you from your life of heteronormativity. You’re mine. In every universe, every lifetime,” he murmurs into their kiss.

Later on, Sarah falls into the chair next to Todd, her dress pooling on the floor around her.   
  
“Hiya, kid,” Todd says, as he kisses her cheek. “Congratulations, you look gorgeous.”

She looks tired too, but endlessly happy. Todd remembers his own exhaustion at the end of his wedding day, and without thinking he searches for Billy’s familiar form across the courtyard. Billy, sensing he’s being watched, turns and smiles back.

Sarah watches the exchange and they share a look of mutual agreement that now is not the time to speak of their past. That they are both where they are meant to be.

*

“So, can I call you?” She asks, her white wine perched in her fingers. “After Gary and I have had our first row? Get some sage marriage advice from you?”

His heart jumps, just like it has done every time in the past four months of secretly married life.

He clears his throat, tamping down the urge to just blurt it out. “I think counseling is more Billy’s territory. Besides, you’re the only one wearing a wedding ring.”

“Yeah, maybe.” She looks down at rock on her hand, fingers spread wide. “But you know me better than just about anyone. Just like I know you.” She sits forward, crossing her elbows on the table. The conspiratorial glint in her eyes makes Todd nervous. “Remember how you knew I was pregnant with Harry just from the way I rubbed my back and craved Shrimpie Fries?” Todd nods. “Well, I know what you look like when you’re keeping a secret. Especially one that makes you happy.”

She smiles as Todd is left speechless. His silence confirming whatever suspicions she’s rightly and inexplicably come to.

“You don’t need to say it,” She says as she rises. “But congratulations to you and Billy, too.”

*  
“If you told Sarah then I get to tell Eva.”

It’s these these moments - the pair of them stripped down to their skivvies, the lights of their bedroom dimmed but not dark, the mood light hearted - that define their life together. It doesn’t have to be the big moments; sometimes the little ones mean just as much.

“I didn’t, she just...figured it out. We’re doing a rather shit job of keeping this quiet if people just keep guessing.”

“Can’t hide a love like ours.”

It’s ridiculous and saccharine sweet. Todd rolls his eyes and Billy’s laughs.

Then he rolls to his side, catching Todd in a full bodied grasp. “It only seems fair and she’d be so happy for us.”

Todd eyes him and his puppy-like enthusiasm. As if he was ever going to say ‘no’.

The next night Billy pulls Eva to a table at the back of the Rover’s. Even so, Todd hears her elated squeal all the way from his place at the bar.

“What’s she so excited about?” Sean asks, cleaning the taps.

“Shopping trip they might go on,” Todd lies, realizing right then that there is one person they might actually owe the truth.


	6. Chapter 6

They vacillate on who should go. The Ex boyfriend or the Ex “brother”. The man who’d been the "love of his life" or the man who he’d shared a home with for years.

In the end, they choose Todd.

“Oh,” Sean baulks as he opens the door. “Hi.” He lets Todd into the flat he’s still sharing with Norris. For as much as Sean gripes about living with the older man, deep down they seem to enjoy each other’s company, or at least Todd likes to convince himself so.

“What can I do you for?” He asks, plastering a polite smile on his face.

“We’ve never talked about what happened between. Between me and Billy and you.”

Sean masks his surprise with a long look and a definitive nod. “Old news. Done and dusted.”

“Yeah, but it isn’t.” Todd thinks that perhaps this conversation deserved a bit more forewarning.

Too late now.

“Cause you and him. You and me...we’ve not been the same since.”

Sean makes a saddened face that asks, How could we be?

“We could have saved a lot of pain, if we’d been honest. Which is why I’m here. There’s something I need to tell you.”

  
*

They sit. Sean makes tea, as you do.

Sean’s remained single ever since his split Billy, a fact that doesn’t make this conversation any easier. Todd can’t help but wonder if he really did steal Sean’s one chance at true love.

“So what’s this big news you need to tell me? You filing another complaint with the Bishop? Going to start working with Pat Phelan again? Make him choose between you and the church?” If Sean had long hair, the head toss he gives would have flipped it over his shoulder. Instead that movement elides into a smooth crossing of his legs, a blow of steam across his cup. “You don’t deserve him, Todd. You never have.”

“I know,” Todd states simply, an act of humility and self-awareness that takes Sean aback. “Which is why I vowed to him that I’d spend the rest of my life living in a way to be worthy of him.”

“Vowed?” Sean sneers. “That makes it sound like you two…”

“Got married? Nearly five months now.” Todd pulls at the collar of his tee-shirt, revealing the small tattoo. Sean sits forward to squint at the lettering then sits back on his tufted chair heavily.

*  
He’s silent for a moment then sniffs once. “Do you expect me to be happy for you?”

The words are neither bitter or sad, just genuinely quizzical.

“Dunno. Thought you might be. Or at least thought I might get some sassy commentary on me becoming an honest man.”

He almost smiles. “Sorry, not up for any witty one liners at the mo.”

“Course.”

“It just hits home,” Sean muses, in a way that he might even if Todd weren’t there. “All that time with me, he was just passing through. Just biding his time...til you.”

“Sean, I have no idea how I hit the jackpot with Billy. I’ll be the first one to admit that we shouldn’t work, but we do. We’re the happiest either of us have ever been...” The words fall short before Todd can catch them.

Sean narrows his eyes. “Well, isn’t that lovely.”

He stands, taking his cup to the kitchen, signalling that this conversation is over.

Before Todd leaves, he ducks his head into the galley kitchen. “You know you can’t tell anyone, right?”

“Yes, Todd,” Sean snaps his name, full of disgust and loathing. “I’ll keep your secret, for Billy’s sake not yours.”

*

“How’d it go?”

Todd falls to the couch, spinning as he does so his head lands in Billy’s lap, giving his answer to Billy’s eager question with a long disgruntled groan. Those familiar fingers find the skin under his hair and he breathes into the touch.

“That good, then,” Billy says grimly.

“I know we just wanted to do right by him for once, but I honestly don’t know if it helped. Seems like all it did was bring up those old bitter feelings. It’s been nearly two years….”

“Some wounds never quite heal completely, you know that,” his says with gentle knowing. “And we got him pretty good.”

They fall into a contemplative silence; a silence broken by the sound of a text coming through to Todd’s phone.

“It’s from Sean.”

_Thnx for telling me. I know you didn’t have to._

_Treasure him, Todd. Prove me wrong and your vows right. We both know it’s what he deserves._

Todd can hear Billy inhale sharply as he reads over his shoulder. He catches his eyes, both a bit surprised by the turnaround. His phone buzzes again.

_Next time you’re in the Rovers, I’ll pop some bubbly for you. On me._


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end!! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!! And sorry this last part took so long...This chapter was actually the kernel from which the whole story grew!

Time passes.

Beautiful, simple time.

Jason moves home with his California girl. He proposes and she says “yes” and Jason finally walks down the aisle.

Tracy sells the florists when she and Rob remarry. She offers it for a song to Todd who happily agrees to ponce with his peonies again.

Lee appears one dour Tuesday with his 3-month sobriety chip. The brothers spend the rest of the day together, almost finding common ground. They meet again the next week.

The handful of people who know that their marriage has grown over a year strong, help them celebrate it on the anniversary. Glasses raised in a private toast to two men who, while not perfect, are still desperately in love.

Billy’s parishioners guess or overhear the gossip enough times to believe it because once they rent their own flat, it’s pretty obvious Billy isn’t a lodger anymore.

But no one causes a fuss. No one files a complaint. Even those who disapprove keep their noses out and their mouths shut. The one entity that has needed to remain oblivious to Billy and Todd’s secret wedding and subsequent marriage, has remained so.

Until one day, Billy gets fed up with secrets.

*

It was the kind of promotion that three years before, Billy would have jumped to accept. But now he simply sits in his parish office with the immobilizing knowledge that he cannot.

He lets John finish. Listens, lips pursed with genuine humility as John explains why he thinks Billy will be so perfect for the job. Liverpool Cathedral. One of the most historic and largest churches in the country. The fact that his Bishop would entrust such an important congregation in Billy’s hands is overwhelming.

“It’s time for you to take on something bigger, Billy. It’s what you deserve.”

He gives himself a moment. “John, I am immeasurably honored that you’d recommend me for this post. I mean that, from the bottom of my heart. It’s a dream position. But I can’t accept it. My life is here. My parishioners, my friends…” He bites his tongue instead of continuing with “my family.”.

“You really see yourself being happy in Weatherfield for the rest of your life?”

Billy thinks briefly of the way the light from their new flat catches Todd’s side of the bed, his eyes afire when they first open in the morning.

“Yes,” he answers with utmost certainty.

*

John gives him a long look. One that Billy has, over their years of working together, come to recognize as a combination of gleaning and knowing.

“This eagerness to stay in Weatherfield, it wouldn’t haven’t anything to do with a certain Todd Grimshaw, would it?”

“I don’t what what you…”

“It’s alright, Billy,” John says, cutting off his blustering attempt at feigned innocence. “I know you’re still together. And people talk. Nothing worrisome, not like before. And your vicar moving in with his boyfriend is certainly worthy of the chatter.”

He’s not sure why, but the truth rolls off his tongue, without hesitation.

“It’s not just that we’ve moved in together, John. We got married. Over a year ago.”

John shifts in his seat and Billy laughs, giddy-sounding.

“I can’t believe I just told you that.” He lifts his hands to his face, eyes casting upwards at utter disbelief in himself.

“You know,” John says slowly. “As your Bishop I cannot condone this union.”

“No,” Billy says, sobering quickly. “No, of course you can’t.”

But then John’s hand is on Billy’s shoulder, his large palm just as warm as his smile. “But as your friend, this is wonderful news indeed.”

*

Billy and John walk slowly back down the aisle, shoulder to shoulder, some while later. The main lights of the sanctuary are off, leaving the afternoon sun filtering through the high colored glass to warm the space in shades of red, blues and greens.

“So I’ve got a gay, married, cohabitating vicar under my charge...” He muses as he slips his hat onto his head with practiced ease. “Why not!” He says with a shrug. “There might just be time for me to knock a few more heads before I retire.”

They’ve reached the main entrance but John’s last statement makes Billy’s hand on the door. He furrows his brow in question.

“I know this is your secret to keep. But if you ever want to take it public, I’m ready to fight with you.”

Billy blinks back tears. “You have...no idea what that means to me, John.”

“I’m a black immigrant working working in a white man’s church. I know exactly what it means.”

Billy falls back against the door, chest heaving with a relief he didn’t know was possible. He fumbles for his phone, punches the speed dial.

“You are not going to believe what just happened.”

*

“So Mum knows. And Pat.”

They’re slumped on their couch later that evening. Bottles of beer resting on their bellies.

“Jason and Cassie. Lee.”

“Sarah. So probably Gary and Bethany, too.”

“Best toss the whole Platt clan in, then.”

“True. I think Tracy sussed it out. Something about how she drew up the paperwork.”

Billy hums in response. “Sean, obviously. And Eva.”

“Between them two, they’ve probably told twenty people each.”

“Basically the whole village knows,” Billy says definitively.

“Including your boss. Who was the whole reason we had to keep our marriage a secret in the first place.”

“Seems so.”

Their eyes catch and laughter fills them. Billy catches Todd’s hand. “If I bought you a ring, would you wear it?”

Todd peers at him. “As long as I get to buy one for you, too.”

Billy pulls him in, kissing his smile. But when they pull away, Todd is serious.

“I promise you, Billy. I’m not going to screw this up.

“Don’t promise me that,” Billy says. “We’re only human and humans are fallible. Instead promise, that when things get hard - because things will get hard, Todd - that we don’t give up.”

Todd thinks that sounds even better.


End file.
